BE LOYAL TO LOCAL
In the fashion-accessory industry, the sale of one bag can mean being able to buy a sack of rice to feed a Filipino artisan’s family.
culture vulture
Thousands of Filipino artisans and handcrafters have lost their jobs because of the pandemic. One of the hardest hit is the fashion accessory industry, where the sale of one bag can mean being able to buy a sack of rice to feed an artisan’s family.
This was exactly the situation facing accessory designer Carissa Cruz Evangelista, who got a text from the community she works with in the Visayas: “Ma’am, we have no more rice.”
Under such dire circumstances, Evangelista had to take steps to help her community — not just her craftspeople but also her fellow accessory designers and the communities they work with all over the Philippines.
“We started consulting with different groups that had export experience,” she says. “We ended up working with CITEM and brands that went to (tradeshows) New York Now and Premiere Classe. I told them, ‘We're all undergoing a lot of things together, and it would be good if all of us would help each other, be truthful and just see how we can go forward.’”
Evangelista found that a lot of brands had no sales during the three months of lockdown. Export brands had canceled orders. Pop-ups were kaput. Retail stores couldn't open. Factories had closed.
So she decided to form Fashion Accessory Makers of the Philippines (FAMph) to see how they could help each other, “because there’s strength in numbers, and some might be stronger than the others who need advice. It’s a collective that can help each other on a nationwide basis, because when we got together we realized that there's no national group for fashion accessories.”
Inspired by the “Fashion for Healing” video directed by Jackie Aquino, the FAMph designers also decided to make their own video to pay tribute to their artisans and urge all of us to “Be loyal to local by supporting Filipino craftsmanship.” (You can view the video by searching for “FAMph Video Campaign 2020” on YouTube.)
“The best way to bring people together is either to take a picture or make a video if you’re Pinoy,” laughs Evangelista. “So we said, ‘Let’s make a video, and we asked Jackie, then people started submitting. There’s a group called Magic 8, which were eight brands that were part of the Las Vegas Magic show — Gina Nebrida Ty (of Agsam Fashion Fern), Maco Custodio, Christine Virtucio (Virtucio Designs), Tessa Nepomuceno (Calli Bags), Martha Rodriguez (Vesti), Yen Pomida-Nacario (Lara Samar Ph), Ken Samudio (Matthew & Melka) and me (Beatriz Accessories) — that got together and really worked hard to come up with a video, our PR and think about what to do next.”
At present FAMph has 45 members and is looking to grow, and find partner companies and communities eager to work with brands like Alchemista, Chromez Creatives, Flutter Statement Jewelry, Island Girl, Jim Weaver Designs, Karga Bags Davao, Kitsilver Jewellery, Stride Collective and the brands featured here.
FAMph is just another example of the Filipinos’ indomitable spirit, and the boundless creativity and talent of our designers. And, as you survey their stunning workmanship, remember that the next purchase you make and wear at your next Zoom meeting could be feeding a family their daily rice.